CHARLOTTESVILLE — Two sisters involved in the car attack that killed Heather Heyer on Saturday filed a lawsuit Tuesday against Unite the Right organizer Jason Kessler, James Alex Fields Jr., Richard Spencer and 30 other groups and individuals.
Tadrint and Micah Washington, the plaintiffs who were in a car that was hit during the attack Saturday, are seeking $3 million in damages.
The sisters — who said they did not take part in any protesting that day — were on their way home when they found themselves being detoured down Fourth Street. They stopped at Fourth Street Southeast and East Water Street to let a large group of protesters cross the street, according to the lawsuit.
Police have said they planned to keep Fourth Street closed to traffic until 7 p.m., according to a traffic plan released prior to Saturday’s rally. When asked why there were three cars on the road before the attack, police said they have not completed the investigation.
At a news conference Monday, Charlottesville Police Chief Al Thomas said he was unsure whether authorities had officially opened the crossing to traffic. He added that he was certain the action plan called for it to be closed.
At about 1:40 p.m., a gray Dodge Challenger turned down Fourth Street and accelerated into the group of pedestrians — killing 32-year-old Heyer and injuring 19 others. When the Challenger, allegedly driven by Fields, crashed into the sisters’ vehicle, the two were slammed into the dashboard and windshield, leaving them with serious injuries, the lawsuit alleges.
Shortly after the attack, Fields was arrested and charged with second-degree murder, malicious wounding and failing to stop at an accident.
Along with Kessler, Fields and Spencer, a white nationalist, the lawsuit names as defendants Mike Peinovich (who runs a right-wing podcast), Michael Hill (founder of the neo-Confederate League of the South and a leader of the Nationalist Front) and Matthew Heimbach (a leader of the Traditionalist Worker Party and the Nationalist Front), the Traditionalist Worker Party, the League of the South, Vanguard America, the National Socialist Movement, the Nationalist Front, the National Policy Institute, and the Proud Boys.
The suit also names David Duke (former Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan), the Council of Conservative Citizens, AltRight.com, Augustus Invictus (founder of the military wing of the Proud Boys), Pax Dickinson, Christopher Cantwell, Andrew Anglin (founder of the Daily Stormer), the Daily Stormer, Identity Dixie, Identity Evropa, Nathan Damigo, the Red Elephants, the American Resistance, the American Freedom Keepers and the Pennsylvania Light Foot Militia.
The suit also includes John Doe 1-1,000 and Jane Doe 1-1,000 to represent other people from the rally who have not yet been identified.
Lawyer Timothy Litzenburg, of the Miller Firm LLC in Orange County, took on the case because he said Saturday’s events in Charlottesville were as frightening as 1930s Germany. Calling the car attack an act of domestic terrorism, he said he wanted to represent the Washington sisters who experienced the violence first hand.
“We’re fighting fascism,” Litzenburg said.
For the John Does mentioned in the suit, Litzenburg said the firm intends to add people and organizations as they are identified in photos and videos.
“It leaves us room in the lawsuit as we learn more about who was there,” said Litzenburg.
According to the document, the plaintiffs were “severely injured and suffered great physical, mental and emotional pain and injury and required and received medical care and treatment and incurred medical expenses.”
Among other claims, the lawsuit alleges a civil conspiracy in which the defendants unlawfully and willingly participated in the “incitement, promotion and sponsoring of violent acts and terrorism for the purpose of instilling fear in the public” and stopping the removal of the city’s Robert E. Lee statue.
It also alleges that Kessler was negligent by failing to take appropriate measures to make sure there would be no violence at the Unite the Right event. Instead, the lawsuit alleges Kessler “witnessed, encouraged and participated in violence against counter-protesters.”
When reached Tuesday, Kessler said he had not yet seen the lawsuit and declined to comment.
